Sunday, January 09, 2011

How Wii 2 might display 3D visuals

A significant admission

Nintendo has admitted to recent plans to sell a 3D home console and proprietary display. This may hint at future plans regarding the successor to the Wii console.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has confirmed that the GameCube, Wii's predecessor, was capable of displaying 3D visuals when hooked up to a parallax barrier LCD screen, the type of display also used in the upcoming handheld 3DS. The comments were made in a recent ´Iwata asks´ session, translated by Andriasang:

GameCube also had circuitry for 3D compatibility, revealed Iwata. If attached to a special LCD screen, the system could display 3D images. Nintendo even had a functional 3D version of Luigi's mansion. Due to the cost for the LCD screens, though, Nintendo decided that there was no market for the tech at the time.

When I was directing Luigi's Mansion on the GameCube we experimented with placing a 3D panel on the screen and making Luigi's Mansion play in 3D. However, at that time we had screen resolution issues. And cost issues. And to separately sell a panel for 3D gameplay wasn't a practical idea as a mass-market product.

Why should anyone have picked up on that? Those comments reveal which 3D technology Nintendo has been experimenting with for home consoles and that they had plans of selling proprietary displays. The latter aspect is significant. We already know that Nintendo's next home console will be capable of displaying 3D visuals. We just do not know how. Hang on. Do we really know the Wii 2 will be a 3D console? Let us recap.

Will Wii 2 really be a 3D console?

Yes, pretty much. Speaking to a Japanese newspaper in June 2010, Iwata announced the company's "plans to make the successor to the Wii 3D compatible, telling (...) that «a full-scale entry into this field will take some time because 3D televisions will not catch on right away.»"

Around the same time, Iwata told a different Japanese newspaper that the Wii could not be upgraded to display 3D visuals but they would "probably do it with the next system."

If you display a 3D image, the image quality becomes extremely bad, so we'd probably do it with the next system. We're thinking that the timing should be once the 3D television adoption rate crosses the 30% mark. We're looking at the adoption trends.

At Nintendo we always have the obligation to surprise users with a new console. We have never done what others do. We prefer to create something new that catches people's attention, and I think this will continue at this time. Surely the new Nintendo machine will leave you all with your mouths open.

Mysteriously, Itagaki said that the game could be released on platforms in addition to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. "We're developing it so that it can be brought to as yet unknown hardware as well. Specifically, the various areas of technology are scalable."

Impress asked if this means Nintendo 3DS and a next generation PSP are included in Itagaki's sights. Responded Itagaki, "More than that, although I can't say this easily because I don't have any information, it's possible that Nintendo could release a higher end console. Something like that."

As far as a possible launch window for a Wii successor is concerned (which I am not concerned with in this article), bear in mind that the game is slated for an early 2012 release.

The IGN feature does not separate the context correctly. The above quote was not made in the context of 3D visuals. Yet, only a few paragraphs above, Itagaki had noted his interest for such technology:

Itagaki appears to be big on 3D as a whole, saying "The thing I'm most interested in now may be 3D televisions." Rather than necessarily feeling the appeal of 3D itself, though, Itagaki said that he just likes new things. There are positive and negative aspects to 3D, he explained. The positive aspects include the impact of the visuals, and the wider expressive power. The negative aspects include the narrow sweet spot and the requirement for goggles.

So, in conclusion, there are "plans to make the successor to the Wii 3D compatible" and Nintendo would "probably do it with the next system" (both quotes by Iwata). "The new Nintendo machine will leave you all with your mouths open," a key Nintendo developer promises and a third party developer says "it's possible that Nintendo could release a higher end console" soon after talking about 3D technology. I am not going out on a limb here when I interpret this as confirmation of Nintendo's next generation home console being a 3D console.

How will Wii 2 display 3D visuals?

As you noticed from his statements above, Iwata is tying the release date of a 3D home console to 3D screens already available in households, which would suggest Nintendo is no longer looking into selling proprietary screens itself. And in another interview, Iwata dismissed the idea of parallax barrier technology applied to big screens.

With this parallax barrier technology, the LCD must be a certain distance away from the screen. It also needs a certain viewing angle. We think it is not a great match for the home TV set. As one of the engineers, I can anticipate that someone will invent a 3D TV that does not require you to wear 3D glasses. As far as today is concerned I do not think they can do it well. We need an invention to make it happen. If you ask me when, I have no idea.

And yet I would like to suggest that Nintendo might be doing just that: opting for a proprietary screen to be used with their next-generation home console. Instead of waiting for multi-functional 3D-capable tv sets to penetrate the market, Nintendo might want to offer a dedicated (and thus cheaper) proprietary solution. It might not be a parallax barrier and you may as well be able to hook the console up to standard television sets (i.e. it might be an add-on rather than integrated into the hardware). But Nintendo might want to sell an autostereoscopic 3D display. There is some evidence to support this.

Such technology has been rumoured to be an upcoming peripheral for the Wii in the past. Most notably, in November 2005, Nintendo star designer Shigeru Miyamoto told Business Week:

It's convenient to make games that are played on TVs. But I always wanted to have a custom-sized screen that wasn't the typical four-cornered cathode-ray-tube TV. I've always thought that games would eventually break free of the confines of a TV screen to fill an entire room. But I would rather not say anything more about that.

Rumours of a ´last secret´ concerning the Wii persisted for some time. As late as October 2006, Nintendo of America´s Perrin Kaplan confirmed that some features of the console had not yet been announced, saying "We do have a couple of other surprises" and noting that they would especially please the hardcore crowd.

Later that month, Reggie Fils-Aime was rumoured to have hinted at a "big Wii revelation" that would be announced around launch.

If you want to read a dated, but thorough article about other hints at the Wii being coupled with a proprietary screen, check out an old Xgaming feature (via Wayback Machine). There are plenty of fakes in there, but it is worthwhile to consider the quotes and the patent, which baffle us still today. Of course, you can also just skim through my archive.

I think it is important, at this point, to consider what form a proprietary display could take and how much it could change gaming. Please consider the following excerpt of a Ubidays 2007 trailer.

Of course, Ubisoft denied that any such hardware ever existed or was ever planned. But the mock-up is inspiring nevertheless. And there is a small chance that Nintendo might be considering a 3D projector like this one for its next-generation home console. At the very least, the company considered selling a proprietary display for its last home console. And, again, this is a significant admission.

Iwata:To go back a little further, the Nintendo GameCube system actually had 3D-compatible circuitry built in.

Itoi:Huh?

Iwata:It had the potential for such functions.

Itoi:Nintendo GameCube did? And all the Nintendo GameCubes systems around the world?

Iwata: Yeah. If you fit it with a certain accessory, it could display 3D images.

Itoi:What a secret!

Iwata: Nintendo GameCube was released in 2001, exactly ten years ago. We’d been thinking about 3D for a long time even back then.

Itoi:Why didn’t anyone ever know?

Iwata: The liquid crystal for it was still expensive. Simply put, Nintendo GameCube could display 3D images if you attached a special LCD, but that special liquid crystal was really expensive back then.

Itoi: Yeah, we’re talking about ten years ago.

Iwata: We couldn’t have done it without selling it for a price far above that of the Nintendo GameCube system, itself! We already had a game for it, though—Luigi’s Mansion, simultaneously released with Nintendo GameCube.

Itoi:The one in which Luigi shoulders a vacuum cleaner?

Iwata:Yeah, that one. We had a functional version of that in 3D.

Itoi:That was 3D?

Miyamoto:It would jump out at you pretty nicely.

Iwata:Even without special glasses, the 3D looked pretty good. But we considered how much the liquid crystal would cost, and it was just too expensive. We figured the market just wasn’t there for it.

Itoi:So you gave up. Whew! And now you’ve done it. I see! You never give up!

Iwata:Yeah. We never give up. (laughs)

Miyamoto:(laughs)

Itoi:I bet the one who was most persistent in pursuing 3D was Miyamoto-san.

43 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Nintendo are playing this game very well. With the Nintendo 3DS just around the corner, they are throwing out hints on their next console.Remember, they do this every time when a major handheld is on the way to store shelves. So, let's see, the 3DS announced E3 '10 comes out this year first qtr. '11.....this mirrors the Wii and DS, this leaves room for a big E3 announcement on a home console. I think if you can put a screen in front of a TV screen, why not do it electronicly , render 3D effects through the game without the use of 3D goggles, but I don't think that's going to be a " shocker".... don't forget Nintendo has a huge R&D department and in a subtle way they've been hinting at "Holographics", believe me Nintendo loves to "shock and awe" us, so we will see this summer, once the 3DS comes out, there will be leak info, revealing interviews, leaked pics.... Watch, it's going to be something else!

I can't wait to see the next nintendo home console. I'm not a huge fan of the wii, mainly because of the motion controls, but I'm still a huge fan of nintendo and am always interested in what they have to offer. Out of the big 3, nintendo is the best at keeping a secret and I'm sure whatever they announce for their new system will surprise everyone and start a new trend in the game industry.

Great story falafelkid! This is seriously the best blog on the internet for nintendo rumors and speculation. Your stories are always extremely interesting and you have amazing foresight and research skills. I can't wait to read the Nibris story. It's been a long wait but I know it'll be worth it. Keep up the great work!

very good article, falfalkid,i missed those articles of you 4 a while....but i think its still possible fora wii 1-upgrade, before a toataly new wii 2 will come in some years.fisrt of all, when the gamecube was set for 3d from the beginning, why not the wii?and when there will come a special screen it will cost maybe 150-200 euro.imagine that there are 70 millions wii sold, its easier i think to sell an upgrade for this money, as a completly mew console which will cost over 300euro for consoles+screen.so nintendo have a good chance (like the wii-fit) to sold the special screen seperatly for wii 1.and don t forget that even ati told years ago that the graphics of wii are only a tip of the iceberg....( http://www.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?21169-ATI-Wii-Graphics-at-E3-Tip-of-the-Iceberg )

and some days ago another hint:"... more great Wii games that need to be seen to be believed.”

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=146652

so maybe at E3 in june if nintendowould give a surprisely announce for such an screen it wouldn t surprise me....sebasian

BASHING A BUTTON=THE PAST AND I THINK WHAT YOU REALLY MEAN IS YOU DONT LIKE WAGGLE ....WAGGLE=NOT MOTION CONTROLS ....MOTION CONTROLS ARE THE FUTURE OF 3D OR EVEN HOLOGRAPHIC INTERACTION

imagine FPS being humanised no more fighting the controls or feeling like a machine gun on a skateboard actual human like FPS -ing COD on wii is a good start FPS on twin sticks =wooden ,artificial ,aim assist,and scrolling having to 2d scroll in a 3D space is dumb even mouse on pc reqiures this dumb scrolling wii remote does not

more live action motion controls are needed so that we can move away from OLD FASHIONED OUT DATED OBSOLETE THINKING IN 3D SPACE.....

PES pro evolution soccor wii again another good starting place for advanced motion gameplay in 3D space ps3 pc x360 still operate in the OLD OBSOLETE WAY control 1 player at a time as it was on snes/megadrive/amiga/pc/all old systems this can never evolve team play not even if the machine had 50 cell cpus ....PES Wii allows realtime play/control of all 11 team players in realtime conbining the ps3/x360 like buttons and analog stick with a RTS type mouse pointer and motion flicks this conbined with a realtime RTS like software takes playing videogame football TRULLY NEXT GEN ps3/x360 can only dream of....

DONT LIKE MOTION WELL STOP GAMING NOW YOUR A OBSOLETE DINOSORE YOUR TIME IS UP....

3D =YES HD=YES WII2 thats obvious but i do not expect nintendo tv screen covers or anything like that i expect nintendo to wait it out for 3D TV TO CATCH ON....

something iv been thinking HEPTIC FEEDBACK 3D RUMBLEA CONTROLLER THAT ALLOWS A REALISTIC FEEDBACK OF 3D RUMBLE AND ACTUAL DEPTH AND SURFACE OF OBJECTS AND EVEN THE TEXTURE OF THINGS WITH SPECIAL SENCERS AND A 3D ADVANCED RUMBLE....

Imagine that there are 70 millions wii sold, its easier i think to sell an upgrade for this money, as a completly mew console which will cost over 300euro for consoles+screen.

You are absolutely right. I almost said this myself - without realising it - when I said I expected no more than Wii graphics in 3D. Great point and I totally agree: Ideally, Nintendo should develop a 3D screen for the Wii to utilise the already impressive installed hardware base of the console.

Thanks for the heads-up. I cannot remember the story behind this, though. And there appears to be no mention of this on the net. What was this Nintendo Yellow again?

Hi Anonymous.

Never did get around to writing that nibris article eh? Don't bother either I've already talked to people and got my info and such on what happened and went on.

As I have mentioned a number of times already, the Nibris article is pretty much written. I am just waiting for a number of sources to get back to me, mainly Nibris themselves. If you have more info on the studio as well as its successor studios, please share it with us.

.... i forgot to write that another thing is why i believe that "only" an add-on 4 we will come is, that some month ago in the last year nintendo patenednames like "Power-Wii" and "Wii-Power" ( http://mynintendonews.com/2010/03/16/nintendo-wii-nintendo-registers-power-wii-trademark/ )

so maybe this will be the name, cause the new games with such an 3d-screen will give a big boost, so why not call it power-wii...;)nice regards sebastian

NINTENDO WII AND DS OWN DECEMBER NDP AND WII BEAT X360 2010 TOTAL SALES DS BEAT EVERYTHING KINECT HAS FAILED SO MUCH FOR THE X360 HYPE WII/DS OWN GLOBALLY FOR 2010 PS3 SOLD A PITTIFUL AMOUNT FOR DECEMBER IN USA

WII/DS CONTINUE TO GROW AWAY AND ABOVE ALL COMPETITION AND 3DS IS ABOUT TO OWN 2011

MS/SONY HAVE BEEN UTTERLY DESTROYED AND CONTINUE TO BLEED MONEY AND MAKE NOTHING FROM GAMING

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